


Far Off Foods

by Serie11



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cooking, Established Relationship, F/F, Food, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: While moving around the Cut, Aloy and Ikrie bunker down to wait out a storm together. Things get interesting when Ikrie offers Aloy something she’s never seen before.
Relationships: Aloy/Ikrie (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58
Collections: Flash In The Pan: A Food Flash Exchange





	Far Off Foods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ried (riiiied)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riiiied/gifts).



Aloy tucks her chin against her chest, as if that can stop the howling wind from getting under her clothes. The layers she’s wearing is supposed to keep the icy cold winds out, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. At least her snow boots are keeping her feet mostly dry – that, or it’s just too cold for the snow to melt even if it does get inside her shoes.

“Over here!”

Aloy squints into the blizzard, towards where she thinks her companion is. It’s hard to see, and Ikrie’s blue and grey colouring doesn’t make things easier. While the camouflage is good when they’re hunting machines, it doesn’t help Aloy spot her when the snow is getting in the way.

Even so, she makes her way over towards the voice. There’s the darkness of a looming cliff that deepens the depth of the blizzard, and it’s only when she stumbles into a small cave that she can blink the snowflakes out of her eyes. Ikrie brushes past her and Aloy shivers as she watches her start to pack snow into the entrance of the cave.

“What are you doing?” Aloy has to half yell over the howl of the blizzard.

“Closing the cave up,” Ikrie says. “It’ll keep the warmth in.”

“Can I help?”

“Nah,” Ikrie says. “You haven’t done this before, and now isn’t a great time to learn. See how deep this cave goes, will you?”

Sensible enough – they don’t want to be surprised by anything. Aloy takes a few steps before digging out a device that she’d found a while ago. When she presses a button on the side it lights up, letting her see the normally pitch black depths of the cave. It’s useful in situations where her Focus isn’t of much use. This cave looks natural, and there shouldn’t be any machines parts in her for her to scan.

She checks, and sure enough her Focus doesn’t pick up anything. The cave is deeper than she’d thought, the ground angling down sharply. There’s frozen water on the sides, icicles dripping down from the ceiling, which is coming down quite quickly. Aloy crouches and then comes out into a larger area, enough for a few people to stand in. There are some cracks leading off in a few different directions from this point, but none that are big enough for a human to pass through.

“Ikrie!” Aloy calls. “There’s a spot back here that we can stay in!”

“Okay! Set something up if you can. This’ll take a while.”

The cave opening hadn’t been big, but it was large enough to try and pack with snow. Aloy unloads her pack and finds some likely looking stones around the corners of the cave, leaving her machine light on so she can see. She has some spare wood that she brings out and puts in the middle of the circle of rocks that she’d created, and spends a bit of time convincing the fire to start. She only wants a small one, because otherwise the smoke would get too thick if Ikrie wants to seal up the entrance – more for light than anything. She’s not sure how long her torch will last if she has to leave it on for a while.

When she has a small fire crackling away and her things mostly unpacked for the night, she takes her cooking pot and goes back to the entrance for some snow. Ikrie’s wall almost reaches her shoulder height now, and the Banuk woman is on the other side, packing snow.

“I have a fire going,” Aloy says, leaning over the wall so she can see her. “Can you fill this up with some snow?”

Ikrie takes the pot and gives it back filled with chunks of snow and ice.

“If you’ve got a fire, I don’t want to seal us in all the way,” Ikrie tells her. “But a little higher than this would still be nice. Drafty caves are the _worst_.”

Aloy grins at her. “Well, I’ll put something on for you so you can get warmed up when you’re done.”

Ikrie’s eyes sparkle. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

The snow turns into meltwater over the fire, and Aloy digs through her pack to see what type of food she can make. The fire really isn’t big enough for a stew, and she isn’t sure how long she’ll be able to keep it going anyway. Still, it’s probably the best option available. She throws in a few of the Carja spices that she’s got, and some boar jerky that _might_ have time to soften up a bit if she’s patient. The salt in the jerky will have to be enough seasoning, because she doesn’t have much left after a few moons in the Cut. Apparently the Banuk don’t sell salt to outsiders, which makes sense with how important the stuff is to them. It hadn’t been at the top of her to do list when she’d been the Chieftain of the werak, but she’s regretting that now. Another reason to head south again.

She stirs the stew and throws in a few of the native greens that she’s found around the Cut. She could say that she’s experimenting, but she doesn’t have anything else fresh, so those will have to do. Just as it’s starting to bubble and smell good, Ikrie comes into the back of the cave, dusted over with snow and with a blue tinge to her lips.

“Here,” Aloy says, scooping some of the broth out into her only cup to hand to Ikrie. “Even if it’s not done, it’s warm and it should be edible at least.”

Ikrie doesn’t complain, slowly sipping the broth as she watches Aloy stir the rest of the stew and taste it, adding a pinch more of the spices. “What are those?”

“Carja spices,” Aloy tells her. “The Nora don’t have anything like it, but I like them. Plus, they cover up most of the taste of anything else, so you can put them on pretty much anything and make it taste good. Pretty useful when you’re stuck with nothing much to work with.”

“It’s definitely an interesting experience,” Ikrie admits. “I’ve never quite had anything like this before.”

“What type of spices do the Banuk use, then?” Aloy asks. “From what I’ve had given to me by the werak, you guys mostly seem to like salting things.”

“Yep. Makes the food keep, which is the most important thing. You never know when you’re going to get lucky, and you never know what you’re going to get _unlucky._ It’s better to just save food for later instead of eating it all at once.”

That does track with what the Banuk are like, Aloy thinks to herself. “Practical to a fault,” is all she says out loud. Ikrie narrows her eyes at her over her cup.

“We have food for celebrations and such as well,” Ikrie tells her. “And it’s better than this Carja stuff, anyway.”

“Sure you’d say that,” Aloy teases.

“Well it’s true,” Ikrie huffs. She finishes off her cup and hands it back to Aloy. Aloy checks on the rest of the food while Ikrie digs around in her pack. She watches her as she stirs – even at a time like this, Ikrie doesn’t waste any movements, rolling out her bedroll, in a swift flick of her wrists. She sets up camp faster than Aloy, which is definitely saying something.

“Here,” Ikrie says triumphantly, pulling out something wrapped. “Add this to your pot – I bet you’ll love it.”

Aloy takes it and unwraps it to find… something. It’s translucent, and soft when she pokes at it. She sniffs it, but that doesn’t give her much of an answer.

“What is it?” she asks.

“Just put it in the pot,” Ikrie says.

Aloy does, stirring it in. Slowly, it begins to melt into the water.

“It’s from the inside of a winter-tree,” Ikrie says proudly. “They’re one of the only things that grow in the middle of winter up in Ban-Ur. _Great_ with things like stew, because they thicken it right up, and there’s salt in there that we can’t really use for salting other food, and it’s just plain tasty.” She tilts her head and grins, looking pleased with herself. “I bet that’ll be the best stew you’ve ever had.”

“We’ll see,” Aloy says. She stirs it, and the winter-tree seems to have completely dissolved. That’s as good as it’s probably going to get – she divides the food between the pot and the cup, and hands the cup back to Ikrie.

“Hey – I already had some,” Ikrie says, frowning.

“You were out there building the snow wall,” Aloy reminds her. “That first bit was just to get you warmed up again.”

“There are other ways I could be warmed up,” Ikrie says, leaning over and smiling.

“Finish your food first,” Aloy chastises lightly. “I don’t want it to get cold.”

“Just proving that not all Banuk are as practical as you might think,” Ikrie rebuts. Aloy takes the first sip of her stew. The Carja spices are still there, but there’s a strange undertone that quickly overtakes them to leave a strong aftertaste in her mouth when she swallows. It’s softer than the spices, but considering how it’s sticking around, it might be stronger. It’s not unpleasant, so Aloy quickly eats the rest of it, making sure to leave nothing behind. The fire is starting to flicker out, and Aloy hesitates before deciding not to build it up anymore. The cave is sheltered enough with Ikrie’s snow wall outside, and they have good gear, and each other. They should be fine to wait it out until morning.

“So how was it?” Ikrie asks. “Tasted awesome, right? Those greens that are from around here brought out the flavour, too.”

“I haven’t had them in any other way before, so I’ll take your word for it,” Aloy says, which makes Ikrie roll her eyes. “But yes,” she admits. “It was pretty good.”

“Only pretty good!” Ikrie says, sounding scandalised. “That’s the best you can do?”

She jumps at her, and they wrestle for a minute, being careful of the fire. It’s only when Aloy kicks over her pack, which hits the pot, which tumbles into the fire, that they stop so everything can be quickly set to rights again.

“Thanks for the food,” Ikrie finally says. Aloy moves her bedroll so it’s next to Ikrie’s.

“You contributed the best part.”

Ikrie puffs up. “I knew you’d like the winter-tree.”

“I meant your company,” Aloy says, smirking at her. Ikrie’s cheeks go dusty red, visible even in the low light of the cave.

“Hush, you,” she scolds, but leans over the leave a kiss on Aloy’s cheek anyway.

A particularly strong gust of wind sends the fire flickering, the last lights of it threatening to go out. Aloy tidies up the area as quickly as she can, Ikrie putting her own things away.

“Come on. We’d better bunker down for the night,” Ikrie says. She slides into her bedroll and Aloy does the same. The low light of the embers are still enough for her to see Ikrie tucking her hood around herself so she won’t freeze off anything during the night.

“Good night,” Aloy whispers. Ikrie shifts so they’re pressed against each other through the blankets, and Aloy takes a breath as she lets the feeling sink in. She still isn’t used to having someone else around like this, someone who wants to be in her personal space and won’t take no for an answer. Not that Aloy wants to say no, anyway.

“Good night, Aloy,” Ikrie says, and Aloy closes her eyes. With the cold air seeping into the cave, with Ikrie beside her and the whole world open for them to explore it however they want to, it’s almost too much choice – what should they do next? She doesn’t know, but she wants to find out.

She’s looking forward to tomorrow.


End file.
